Page 6 of Hope’s Enduring Echo
Leo
Despite his best efforts to simply listen, Leo privately critiqued the minister’s delivery during the church service held at the red-brick Presbyterian church. The minister was good. His message, taken from the first chapter of James, was biblically sound and he spoke with conviction, even giving Leo a thought or two to ponder later in the day. But the bane of having sat under Father’s skilled and emotionally charged preaching was that other ministers never seemed to measure up. The way he’d never measured up in Father’s eyes.
He pushed the thought aside as the congregation rose for a hymn. The organist played a series of reverberating opening notes, and across the sanctuary, voices joined in Charles Wesley’s “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.” Leo shared a hymnal with Jennie and enjoyed hearing her sweet yet unassuming soprano. He wished he could make sense of her change in demeanor. The Jennie who’d held up the old dinosaur bone like a club, teasingly called him “college boy,” and strode across the top of that warped wooden pipeline with the agility of a—his lips twitched with his effort to hold back a grin—young mountain goat had dissolved into a completely different person.
Upon meeting on the sidewalk before service began, she’d politely introduced him to her aunt and uncle. Here in the church building, she politely invited him to sit with her family, politely shared her hymnal, and politely passed him the velvet offering pouch. He couldn’t fault her behavior, but her reservedness put him on edge. He’d seen her transform before his eyes yesterday when he offered to accompany her to the mercantile. He’d witnessed his sister Myrtle’s rapid changes from cheerful to churlish and back again as she moved out of childhood. Maybe Jennie was merely exhibiting a girlish mood swing. Even so, he felt as if he’d done something wrong, but he didn’t know what. The way he’d so often felt when he was a boy living under Father’s watchful eye.
“?‘Finish then, Thy new creation; pure and spotless let us be…’?”
The entreaty found in the hymn’s lyrics brought his thoughts back to his father, and he winced. Would he ever be pure and spotless as far as Father was concerned? From his earliest memories, he’d done his best to please his father. He followed every rule whether dictated by God or man, behaved respectfully, put forth his best efforts in every pursuit whether academic or athletic. Other parents held him as the shining example for their children to emulate. But unless he changed his course of study, donned a cleric’s garb, and stepped behind a pulpit, Father would forever find fault with him.
The hymn ended. Jennie closed the book and returned it to the hymnal rack without glancing up at him. The song leader moved aside, and the minister stepped to the edge of the dais. He sent a warm smile across the congregation. “Let us carry with us, no matter what conflicts we might be facing, the wise words shared in James one, verse three.” He closed his eyes. “?‘Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.’?” He opened his eyes again and offered a solemn nod. “Our God is not wasteful. Even our trials can be used for good when we continually trust in Him. Now the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.”
Many people, including Jennie and her aunt and uncle, echoed, “Amen.” Then folks gathered their Bibles, handbags, and restless children and began milling toward the front door. Jennie’s aunt and uncle, the wife’s hand tucked in the bend of her husband’s arm, fell in with the others leaving. Leo considered offering his arm to Jennie, but after yesterday’s strange reaction to his gentlemanly gesture, he feared a refusal. So he grabbed his hat from the pew and trailed behind her up the aisle and out the door into the midday sunshine.
Jennie’s aunt, Mrs. Flankston, sent a smile over her shoulder past Jennie to Leo. “Did you enjoy the service, Mr. Day?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He settled his hat into place. “I found the message encouraging and thought-provoking. The singing was quite nice, and I appreciate how the song leader chose hymns that supported the Scripture passages cited in the sermon.” As people passed him, several offered nods or paused to shake his hand. He added, “The people are friendly, too. So, yes, it’s been an enjoyable experience.”
A light, trickling laugh spilled from the woman’s smiling lips. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard such a well-thought-out answer to a simple question.” Her eyes shone with warmth, reminding him of Jennie’s mother. “That is wonderful to hear. I was a little nervous after Jennie told us how your daddy and granddaddy are preachers.”
Leo glanced at Jennie and caught her staring at the ground and shifting blades of grass with the pointy toe of her shoe. She’d shared information about him with her aunt and uncle, hmm? Maybe she wasn’t as indifferent to him as her current behavior intimated.
Mr. Flankston exhaled a huff, making Leo think he’d been holding his breath. “We weren’t sure how you’d take to our reverend. He’s fairly young and inexperienced, but his heart is in the right place. We believe he’ll grow into an excellent speaker as time goes by.”
Although the preacher’s delivery wasn’t as skilled as Father’s or Grandfather’s, Leo had seen fervor in his expression and heard passion in his voice. Clearly, the man had heeded God’s calling and would, as Jennie’s uncle stated, grow in his ability to share biblical messages in a meaningful manner. Father would likely approve of this young preacher. If only Father could find it in his heart to approve the calling Leo had received. Could only ministers influence lives with truths from God’s Word?
“He’s already an excellent speaker.” Leo heard a hint of defensiveness in his tone, and he almost laughed at himself. Was he defending the new preacher to Jennie’s uncle or himself to Father? “As I said, I enjoyed the service.” He glanced across the street at the Baptist church. “I might visit each of the churches in town, though, before I decide which to attend regularly over the summer weeks. I’ve not experienced other denominations’ services. It could be interesting and enlightening.”
Mr. Flankston turned toward the sidewalk, guiding his wife forward. “I agree with you. New experiences can inspire and grow us. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the opportunity to explore. But for now, I’d like to explore the restaurant menu at the hotel. Let’s go eat.”
Leo enjoyed the hearty meal of stewed beef with potatoes, carrots, and onions in a thick gravy. The dessert, a towering slice of chocolate cake, also pleased his taste buds. More than the food, though, he enjoyed the conversation. Mrs. Flankston was as friendly and personable as her sister. Mr. Flankston matched her in congeniality. Although the man did more listening than talking, he maintained an interested countenance, much the way Jennie had when Leo joined her family at the cabin for supper on Friday evening.
If Mr. Flankston took Jennie’s role, she assumed her father’s. She barely looked up during the meal and contributed to the conversation only when someone directly addressed her. Even then, her responses were mostly monosyllabic, nothing like the answers she’d given to his questions when they walked the pipeline together. Although his acquaintanceship with her could be measured in hours rather than days or weeks, he found himself pining for the Jennie he’d first met and pondering how to bring her back again.
“I’m curious…” Mr. Flankston’s pensive tone pulled Leo from his reflections. “Why did you choose Colorado for seeking dinosaur bones? Do you really think there’s anything left to discover after Marsh and Cope finished their intensive competition?”
Leo blinked in surprise. He knew all about the fierce rivalry between fossil hunters Othniel Marsh and Edward Cope that lasted for years and ended in financial and personal ruin for both men. His college professor had lectured at length about their finds as well as their change from friends to rivals. But the war between the two paleontologists had ended in 1892, more than two decades ago. Leo’d presumed it was forgotten by most people.
He swiped his mouth with his napkin. “Marsh and Cope, and a handful of others, certainly made diligent searches in Colorado, but they mostly scoured the western regions. I came armed with hope that if those beds were rich with fossils, other areas of Colorado will also hold evidence of life from long ago.” He couldn’t help tossing a quick grin at Jennie. “And my hope proved true when I spotted Jennie atop the pipeline, carrying a bone. I’ve prayed for an opportunity to make a significant contribution to the field of paleontology, and it seems as if God honored that prayer by crossing my path with hers the same day she chose to tote the bone on her route.”
Jennie put down her fork and turned to Leo, fully facing him for the first time since they met up that morning. “Do you really think you looking out the train window and seeing me holding that old bone is an answer to prayer?”
God hadn’t answered his prayers concerning Father’s attitude toward his son’s scientific pursuits, but Leo clung to a shred of hope that God wasn’t completely ignoring his heartfelt appeals. He wanted to believe that seeing the bone in Jennie’s hand was due to God’s timing and intervention. He nodded. “I do.” Then he sighed. “Of course, much work lies ahead. A single bone is the start, but unless I locate the skeleton from which it came, it’s likely I’ll lose Mr. Figgins’s interest.”
“Mr. Figgins?” Jennie’s aunt arched a brow. “Who is he? One of your professors?”
“No, ma’am, he’s the director of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.” The flicker of hope that resided deep within Leo flared. “Interestingly enough, he and my father were classmates in their younger years.” If anyone could convince Father of the importance of these archaeological finds, J. D. Figgins could. And if Father became convinced that Leo wasn’t wasting his life by digging around in the past, maybe, just maybe, he’d finally offer his blessing on Leo’s plans for the future.
Without conscious thought, he closed his fist, an attempt to hold to his hope. “The museum doesn’t yet have any complete Jurassic dinosaurs on display, and Mr. Figgins is quite interested in expanding their paleontology exhibit. I would love to contribute a substantial find.”
Jennie’s uncle pushed his plate aside and propped his arms on the edge of the table. “That’s a mighty big aspiration for someone who’s not too far along in years and experience.”
Although the statement could be perceived as condescending, Leo read only interest in the man’s somber gaze. “I suppose so, but if one has no goals to which to aspire, he has no true purpose in living. My father proclaims from the pulpit that a man’s life is futile if he is not about God the Father’s business. I’ve known since I was twelve years old that I wanted to find evidence of the biblical creation story. Many might scoff that the discovery of dinosaur bones plays a role in proving the Bible is an accurate historical document.” In fact, one of his college professors had ridiculed him in front of his classmates. “But I view the findings differently. Consider the literal field of skeletal remains discovered near Morrison in the late 1870s. Even scientists with leanings toward evolution agree some sort of catastrophic event wiped the dinosaurs out. Who’s to say it wasn’t the flood sent in Noah’s time?”
He suddenly realized Jennie was staring at him, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. In awe? Or maybe disbelief. His uncertainty in determining the reason for her focus brought him up short. He sat back and folded his hands in his lap. “Of course, as you tactfully pointed out, Mr. Flankston, it will take more than a college student’s suppositions to convince seasoned paleontology experts to change their stance. But who knows? Maybe God will lead me to a key piece of evidence that points directly to His hand in not only the creation of but also the extermination of the great beasts that once roamed the earth.”